I have been anticipating the release of "Vampire: The Wild West" ever since I heard about it. It is a genre that holds a lot of potential to tell Vampire stories in the World of Darkness that fit the theme and atmosphere that we have come to love from VtM while spicing it up with a setting that popculture is very familiar with. While I agree with other reviews that the focus of the book is very zoomed in on very specific areas of the West (mainly California) I am convinced that it would be impossible to provide detailed setting infos for the whole of North America during the Frontier (and as someone who uses setting books as a starting point and inspiration for his own research, I find it helpful as a guideline while still giving me the creative freedom to fill in the empty spots on the map on my own).
It might be possible that some of the content is already covered in "Werewolf: The Wild West" but as my interest is Vampire and not Werewolf when it comes to playing a character in the World of Darkness, I never even considered buying the setting book for Werewolf. So saying "Werewolf the Wild West" already covers much of what the book provides in regards to the setting should not take away from anything the book offers, especially with the feats and discipline variants etc. it offers to create a true Wild-West Vampire character.
For someone who only consumes the Vampire-focused content of the WoD, this book is a must buy if you are interested in the Frontier as a setting for your games. The historical research is very well done, well intertwined with the canon and lore we already know from other source books and it doesn't shy away from contextualizing the historical period in which it takes place and doesn't justify all the atrocities that happened during that time by going: "it was the evil vampires that did it".
Inhowfar the balancing of the feats and rules given mess with the mechanics of V:20 or not remains to be seen (just as much as with all other supplements for VtM) but from a brief overview it appears to be well thought out.
I cannot answer wether or not this is a good addition to your collection if you already own Werewolf:The Wild West because I frankly do not know, but at least it is everything I hoped it would be and the respectful tone it takes with the setting and the content is something that I appreciate a lot and that is so very much needed for the WoD as a dark/horror setting that contains topics that have to be managed with the utmost care at a table so that everyone is comfortable. The Authors understand their responsibility in that regard and it is visible on every page.
I for one can not wait to create my first gunslinging Lasombra or Brujah and explore the uncharted Wildlands, abandoned Mining Towns and bloodsoaked Salloons that await us on the Frontier.
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